A Keyblade Revival
by Maxtron
Summary: In a time when people thought that keyblade wielders no longer existed, a boy with a never-ending nightmare wields a keyblade and fights to rid the world of the heartless and seeks to find what his nightmare means.
1. Chapter 1

**Riku: It's time, Sora.**

**Sora: Time for what, Riku?**

**Riku: The movie. You didn't forget did you?**

**Sora(blushing): Hehe. Of course not. Who would want to miss an awesome movie about a keyblade wielder?**

**Kairi: You guys weren't going to watch without me were you?**

**Riku: Just in time, Kairi. We were just about to start.**

**Sora: Well what're we waiting for? Roll film!**

* * *

As he walked down the tunnel, he felt his heart racing. The dark green lights that hung from the ceiling somehow added to his fear.

_Is this the same nightmare I've been having for three days now? If it is, why is this happening to me?_

Suddenly, a big cloud of white smoke appeared no more than five feet in front of him. Shivering with fear, he watched the white smoke slowly evaporate, anticipating something very dreadful.

When the smoke had finally disappeared, the young man could see it - a giant, hideous, skull-like head that glowed bright white. It had three eye sockets; one of them being directly three inches about the nasal cavities. All three of the eye sockets had, what looked like, blood that flowed all the way to the mandible.

"Come back to me, my child!" Its voice boomed from the eye sockets in a low, devilish tone; the sound echoing all across the tunnel.

It slowly opened its mandible to reveal a dark purple, swirling, portal. Slowly, out from the portal, came two black arms with black hands that had nails sharper than a tack. In the blink of an eye, they snatched up the young man, slowly pulling him into the portal.

"No! No! Noooo!"

Right before the hands could pull him in, a flash of light enveloped the entire area in a split second. Next thing he knew, he woke up in his room. He sat up straight on his bed and began to question the nightmare.

_Why? Why is it the same nightmare every night? Is it supposed to mean something?_

One minute later, a familiar voice broke him away from his thoughts.

"Hey! Karlos! Are you up there?"

The young man walked over to the window, his hand rubbing the top of his spiky, brick red hair. His ocean blue eyes scanned the whole front yard from the window to find where that voice was coming from. Right then, he spotted him – his best friend.

"Karlos, buddy! Have you forgotten what today is?" The young man in the yard called out.

"Sorry, Halsten. I just woke up from a nightmare," Karlos said with a bit of a sad expression.

"Let me guess. It was that bone-head monster again, wasn't it? Get it? Bone-head?" He laughed.

"Yeah, Good one," Karlos said, chuckling a little. He did not understand how Halsten could joke about a nightmare so terrifying, but he still thought the pun was funny.

"I know how you feel, man," Halsten said with a little remorse. "I've seen it in my nightmares for three nights in a row, last night being the third."

"Really?" Karlos asked with eyes wide open.

"You bet, man. I'm trying to get over it. Thankfully, I have a meeting with my therapist tomorrow. Hopefully, he'll know how to cure me of that stupid nightmare."

"I don't know, Halsten. Somehow, I think we're having the same nightmare for a very good reason. I just don't know what it is.

"Have you heard about keyblades?" Halsten suddenly asked.

"Keyblades? You mean the weapons that the ancient heroes supposedly used to destroy the heartless in this world centuries ago?

"That's right. I'm sure that if you had a keyblade, you could wipe that monster from our nightmares forever. Man, I'd be the happiest guy in the world if you do that," Halsten said, chuckling slightly thinking that that idea was absurd.

"You understand that story is just a legend, right? I mean nobody alive today has ever seen any of those heroes; let alone, ever seen a keyblade. And how do we know heartless ever existed?"

"You have a point, it was a long time ago," Halsten admitted

Karlos did not know why, but he did not want this conversation to go on any further. He decided to go back to Halsten's question.

"By the way, Halsten, what is today?"

Halsten suddenly remembered what he wanted to tell Karlos.

"Dude, today is the day the Gators blow the Comets out of the water! It's supposed to be the best baseball game in the whole history of baseball."

"Oh, that's right! I can't believe I forgot about that!" Karlos replied after face-palming himself.

"Well, what're we waiting for? The game starts in forty minutes and you know how hard it is to find a seat."

"I highly doubt they'll win this time; the comets have been beating them over and over recently. Just, give me a minute. I'll be right down."

With that, Karlos quickly made his way down the stairs, out the front door, and over to his best friend. Excitement was building within him. Even though he was not sure if Gators would win this game, he knew it would be fun nonetheless.

"How much do you have?" Halsten asked.

"66 silver coins, I think," He answered as he counted his savings. "That should be enough for the tickets and some souvenirs."

"Don't forget the hot dogs!" Halsten said, licking his lips.

"Yeah, that too," Karlos said, closing his eyes and smiling sheepishly.

"Well let's not dally. We don't want to miss the game, do we?"

"No, we don't."

"Well come on, then. Let's get over there before all the seats get taken!"

With that, the two ran off to the stadium. As they were running, thoughts of the nightmare ran through Karlos' mind as he hurried to the game with his friend.

_Not again! I really have to forget. I'm going to a ball game to have fun, not to worry all the more about some nightmare I can't control._

* * *

**Riku: Pretty good so far, huh Sora?**

**Sora: Yeah, but the funny thing is... except for the hair color and the clothes, Karlos looks like me!  
**

**Riku: I know! Isn't that awesome?**

**Kairi: Take it as flattery, Sora. It's not every day you see someone who looks like you or looks a lot like you.**

**Sora: Okay, but can we please watch the rest of the movie? I'm dying to see what will happen next!**

**Riku: All right, then. Let's get back to it.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Riku: And We're back!**

**Sora: Finally! **

* * *

Karlos and Halsten reached the baseball stadium just 15 minutes before the game started. Karlos paid for the tickets and Halsten followed from two feet behind Karlos to their seats. They were relieved to find there were quite a few seats left. They took their seats and waited for the game to start, growing more and more excited with each minute that passed.

"Can you believe it? This is the Gators final chance. They better win this one!" Halsten said, clenching his fists in anticipation.

"Yeah, let's hope so," Karlos agreed.

Around three minutes before the game started, Halsten remembered something.

"Hey Karlos, do you think Angie will make it here?"

"I doubt it. Most girls don't like baseball."

Right then, they heard her voice.

"Hi guys!"

Quickly, the two turned to the source of the voice.

"Angie!" they both shouted in unison. Ever since the three met many years ago, Angie had been their favorite girl. She was very kind, always complementing them, comforting them, and helping them out whenever they needed some assistance. She was also quite beautiful with light greenish blue eyes, and Geraldine pink hair that parted into two big and thick tails that flowed down to her hips, each on one side a bit near the back of the head and tied at the very top with white ribbons. She was wearing a black sweater with a grey skirt with black stripes that flowed down to her kneecaps, and shiny black boots.

"Looks like I made it on time," Angie said with a smile.

"We saved you a seat," Karlos said, his hand over the empty seat next to him.

"Why thank you!" Angie said. With that, she sat down with her friends and waited for the game with them. While they were waiting, Angie broke the silence.

"So, have you guys heard about the keyblades and the ancient heroes that wielded them long ago?"

"Yeah, Karlos and I were talking about that earlier today," Halsten said. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I was wondering if you guys actually believe that story. If there really were keyblades that were used to rid this world of the heartless, I want to see one for myself."

"But how do you know if one really exists?" Karlos asked

"Actually, I don't know. But that doesn't mean we can't look for one," Angie replied.

"Oh, and I suppose you know where to look," Halsten said with sarcasm. He doubted the existence of the keyblades and he was afraid Angie was going to waste her time looking for them.

Halsten's response did not bother Angie one bit. Instead, she responded to it kindly.

"As a matter of fact, Halsten, I do have an idea where we should look."

"Oh? And where would that be?" Halsten demanded, still not convinced.

"Sparkler Park!"

Karlos and Halsten could not understand why Angie suggested looking for a keyblade in a place like Sparkler Park. They knew nothing of the park's history.

"Why that place, Angie?" Karlos asked.

Before Angie could answer, the game started and the Comets where the first to play offence.

"Oh, boy! I just know the Gators will win this time!" Halsten shouted, excitement overtaking him.

The game lasted nearly two and a half hours. Angie did not care much what was going on in the game; she was thinking about Sparkler Park and wanting to get there to find a keyblade. Karlos and Halsten were enjoying the game, cheering on their favorite team time and time again. It seemed they would never stop cheering them on. Halsten kept cheering, but Karlos decided he needed to give his voice a break and took the opportunity to leave during the bottom of the fifth inning and buy hot dogs and a few small bobble heads for his friends before coming back.

After the game ended, it was the middle of the evening, and the three left the stadium. Karlos and Halsten were pleased. Their team, the Gators, had won 9 – 4. The two kept chanting over and over out loud, "Go Gators! Go Gators!" Angie decided to bring up Sparkler Park and the chance of finding a keyblade there, hoping to get the two young men's attention.

"You know, guys, I think we should head over to the park."

Karlos liked the idea. He wanted to know if the legend was true. Halsten, on the other hand, did not want any part in it because he was certain the whole keyblade story was nothing more than a story.

"I'll help you look for a keyblade," Karlos offered with enthusiasm.

"Do what you two love birds want. I'm going home." With that, Halsten walked back home leaving Karlos and Angie behind on the streets.

After Halsten was out of sight, the two walked to the park. As they were walking there, Karlos decided to break the silence.

"So why do you think the Keyblade might be in Sparkler Park?"

"Well… I heard that a keyblade battle took place there. It was the final battle between a veteran keyblade wielder and a giant heartless."

"Okay… so who won?"

"The guy with the keyblade won, but at an enormous cost."

"W-what do you mean?" Karlos asked with a bit of fear.

"The keyblade wielder used all his strength to open a portal in the shape of a keyhole. It is said that the portal sucked all the heartless from this land into the portal which teleported them into eternal darkness, never to make it out again. Right after the heartless were banished, the hero collapsed and died."

"Wow…" Karlos was intrigued by the story. He also felt remorse for the hero knowing it must have taken a lot of courage to make such an enormous sacrifice. Out of Curiosity, Karlos asked Angie one more question.

"So, what was the hero's name?"

Angie smiled upon hearing the question.

"His name was Gerhold, but everyone called him 'Sparkler.' This park was named after his nickname."

"Odd. So why was he called 'Sparkler?'"

Angie smiled giggling a little as she answered his question.

"Because whenever he got ready to fight, you could see lightning sparks fly off his keyblade. I guess that was supposed to tell the heartless it was best not to mess with such a guy!"

Karlos and Angie laughed together thinking many heartless must have cowered and ran away upon seeing that powerful weapon.

After some time, the two reached their destination.

"This is it!" Angie exclaimed upon seeing the gate to the park. "If that keyblade is somewhere, it's in there. I'm sure of it!"

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's get in!"

With that, the two vaulted over the gate and ran deep into the park, certain they would find what they were searching for.

* * *

**Sora: Karlos and Halsten like baseball? Pretty cool. I mean we don't get to watch any ballgames anywhere on Destiny Islands.**

**Riku: So true, Sora.**

**Kairi: Can't wait to see some more. I want to know if those two will find the keyblade.**

**Riku: We'll find out... after my water break.**

**Sora: Sheesh, Riku! Why do you have to drink so much?**

**Riku: Hey! I get thirsty a lot, okay?**

**Sora(sigh): Whatever. Just hurry up so we can get back to it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Riku: Okay. Now we've gotten to a good part of the story.**

**Sora: I hope so. **

**Kairi: What are you guys talking about? I thought the story was good so far.**

**Riku: Good for you, Kairi. Roll film!**

* * *

It was late in the night, but Karlos and Angie were not about to give up. They were determined to find the legendary keyblade. They kept looking for what felt like ages. Finally, after two hours of searching, Karlos decided he should talk with Angie.

"I'll bet Halsten's playing Lumberjack Frenzy right now."

"Lumberjack Frenzy? What kind of game is that?"

"It's a video game. The objective is to cut as many trees down as possible in a certain amount of time while avoiding the bears and skunks."

Angie made an unamused face upon hearing that.

"It sounds lame."

"I think so too, but you could never convince Halsten of that; he loves it too much. He always aims to beat the game creator's high score; he's good at avoiding those bears every time, but before he can beat the high score, he always gets 'skunked.'"

Angie giggled thinking of Halsten's reaction to losing that game.

"Okay. I think we should check the fountain," Karlos suggested.

"Let me guess. You're thirsty, right?"

"That's right, I'm parched," Karlos said. "You're so smart it seems I can't get anything past you."

"Well let's get over there, maybe we will find something there while we're at it."

They reached the fountain and immediately, Karlos dunked his face into the water, taking in as much water as his stomach could hold.

"You really were thirsty, weren't you?" Angie said with a giggle.

Karlos lifted his head out of the water, and turned to Angie with a slight smile.

"Yeah, I guess I was," Karlos replied, smiling sheepishly.

Suddenly, Angie caught sight of something shiny in the side of the fountain base. She walked over to it and examined it carefully. What she saw amazed her.

"It's… It's white cross!"

"Really? Let me see that."

Karlos moved in closely to see what it was.

"Hey, you're right. Would that be a power-up for a keyblade?"

Angie lowered her head, her eyes gazing towards the ground while thinking about the question.

"I think it is, Karlos! If that really is a power-up, then a keyblade can't be too far away."

Out of excitement, Karlos tried to pull the white cross off of the fountain. It was no good; the cross was stuck tight.

"Oh…" Angie said, her cheeks glowing red from embarrassment. "Maybe that was just a decoration."

"Aww, nuts! And just when we thought we were getting somewhere!"

Angie was crestfallen. She had finally given up hope of finding the keyblade.

Suddenly, in the distance, Karlos saw a pair of small, round, glowing yellow, eyes that lacked pupils. Out of fear, Angie clung to Karlos, shivers running all throughout her body.

The creature with the yellow eyes came closer and closer making Karlos feel very uneasy.

"Just stay close to me," Karlos said, trying to comfort her. "I will protect you even if it kills me."

When the creature got close enough, Karlos gulped with fear. It looked like a tall knight with dull grey armor. It was holding a circular-shaped metal shield with a spearhead sticking out of it in the center. In its other hand, it had shiny sword that was nearly five feet in length.

In the blink of an eye, the creature pointed its sword directly at Karlos and ran at him.

Karlos shut his eyes, grappling onto Angie in an attempt to shield her. When he opened his eyes, he realized Angie and the hideous creature were gone. In fact, the whole park was gone too.

"Angie? Angie, where are you?"

Karlos did not hear a response.

All he saw was darkness and a glowing circular platform that he was standing on. The stained glass mural depicted a boy with spiky brown hair holding a keyblade and appearing to be asleep.

"W-where am I? What happened to Angie and that creature? Where's the park?"

Suddenly, he heard a voice echo from the distance.

"Hurry, Karlos. Take the keyblade."

"Keyblade? What Keyblade?"

Suddenly, a big ball of light appeared and then it turned into what looked like a giant key. It was four feet in length.

"Holy, Cazoni! It's a keyblade! A real keyblade!"

The keyblade's handle was bright silver with a chain attached to the bottom. The chain had a tiny white sculpture of an angel at the end. The blade part of it looked like a white wave in the shape of a crescent moon with several sharp points. Both end points of the blade were attached to a thick, golden rod that jutted straight from the handle with a silver spearhead at the top.

Karlos ran over to it and took it. He felt delighted to hold such a weapon for the first time in his life.

Karlos heard the voice again.

"You have the keyblade. Now show me what you can do with it. Defeat this one Shadow."

"Shadow? Am I fighting someone's shadow?"

Suddenly, a black cloud appeared three feet from Karlos and then materialized into a heartless. The heartless was half the size of Karlos standing on two feet. It had two antennae and two big eyes, both bright yellow.

"So this is the Shadow Heartless, huh? I hope this fight will be easy."

He lifted his keyblade and charged at the heartless. Without a moment's hesitation, the heartless jumped out of the way causing Karlos to hit nothing but air.

"Oh, you want to play tag, don't you? Well bring it on 'cause I can play that game all day!"

Finally, after several attempts, Karlos slashed the shadow heartless, causing to fall down and vaporize.

"Well done, Karlos. You have shown yourself to be a great warrior. Return to your world at once."

A huge light enveloped the whole room, causing Karlos to cover his eyes. When he opened them, he found himself back at the park with Angie clinging to him once again for cover; the tall heartless with the grey armor was still charging at them.

_This is not good! I can't believe I left the keyblade back there!_

Then he heard a voice echo inside his head.

Karlos, Extend your arm with the palm of your hand facing upward.

He did just that. Instantly, the Keyblade materialized into his hand.

The tall heartless extended its sword and lunged at Karlos; but it was no good, Karlos grappled onto Angie and jumped out of the way just in time.

"Okay! My turn!"

Karlos released Angie from his hold and ran at the lunged at the heartless. He jabbed it first, and then kept wacking and slashing it for five seconds at the speed of a cheetah. The attacks were too much for the heartless and immediately, it fell on its back and vaporized into nothingness.

Angie could not believe her eyes. Karlos had just defeated a heartless nearly effortlessly and with a keyblade.

"Karlos! You did it! You not only found a keyblade, but you also took out that heartless. By the way, where did you find that keyblade?"

"Ummm… Well… I was transported to another dimension where someone or something gave me this. Before I could come back to this dimension, I had to fight off a shadow heartless; that was not an easy to pull off."

"Another dimension, huh? As absurd as this sounds , I believe you."

Karlos smiled.

"Well, now that I'm a keyblade wielder, I can protect you anytime you need it, and besides, I… I… never mind!"

Karlos tried telling Angie how he felt about her, but he found it difficult to do so.

"You don't have to say it, Karlos. I think I already know."

"Y-you do?"

"Yes, I know you love me."

Karlos blushed.

"Am I that transparent?"

"I knew you loved for a long time, because of everything you've done for me. You always go shopping with me, helping me choose the right things; and at one time, when I wanted to go to a big party, I was able to go because you stayed at my house to do my chores when I should have done them myself. The truth is I love you too.

With that, she hugged him tightly, and Karlos hugged her back feeling overjoyed.

After some time, Karlos escorted Angie back to her house. Before Angie went inside, she hugged Karlos one more time.

As Karlos walked back to his house, he was ecstatic. He obtained a keyblade, and found out Angie loved him as much as he loved her. However, right before he walked into his bedroom, Karlos remembered the nightmare.

_Darn it! How many nights do I have to endure before I can be rid of this? Isn't there anything I can do to stop it? _

* * *

**Kairi: Aw! What a lovely couple!  
**

**Sora: Yeah, but I'm just glad Karlos got a keyblade. Imagine the epic battles!**

**Riku: Oh, there will be quite a few. Just wait and see.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Riku: Okay! Let's get back to the movie!**

**Sora: Yeah. I love this movie even though it's too long to watch in one sitting because it has a keyblade and heartless.**

**Riku: Roll film!**

* * *

Karlos was having the same nightmare again. It seemed there would not be an end to the visions of the floating skull-like head and what it kept telling him each time. Karlos awoke, and thought deeply about that nightmare and what it could mean.

_Surely there must be a reason for this. Why am I having it every night? Is it because I will come face to face with it one day? _

He stayed up the rest of that night out of fear of having that nightmare again. He had had enough of it.

When morning dawned, he decided he needed to take a trip to the library, so he walked over there, hoping to find out something about the keyblades and if some dreams do have meanings.

When he got to the library, he first looked through the books on dreams. One book he read said that if you have an ongoing nightmare, it is probably because something very horrible is about to happen and that the person having the continuous nightmare needs to deal with it.

_Interesting… I have to find the source of the nightmare. But where would I find it? It is a big world, and I could look my entire life and never find it. Never mind. I found the answer to my nightmare problem. Now I should do some research on keyblades if they have anything on that type of stuff._

To his surprise, there were two books on the subject. Karlos took both of them off the shelf and read them slowly, trying to take in as much of the information as he could.

_Wow! I can't believe it. Angie was right; a keyblade war took place right in, what's now known as, Sparkler Park. It must've been epic!_

After Karlos was through doing his research, he decided to head down to the beach to relax in the rays of the sun for a little while. When he got there, he was surprised to see Halsten and Angie sitting next to each other near the edge of the ocean looking over the water towards the setting sun.

_Are they? No, they couldn't be. Angie loves me. No way is Angie going to fall for a guy like him. Besides, I have a keyblade. I'm the one who can protect her, not him._

Halsten and Angie turned to look at Karlos simultaneously, both smiling.

"Karlos! Glad you could join us. Please, sit with us," Angie said.

"Well… okay. I suppose I can talk with you guys for a little while."

With that, Karlos sat next to Halsten hoping that if he sat next to him and not Angie, Halsten would not know that he and Angie were secretly in love with each other. Right then, Halsten decided to ask Karlos a question out of sarcasm.

"So… Angie told me you found a keyblade. I bet you didn't really find one, because they don't exist."

Karlos saw this as an opportunity to prove him wrong.

"Oh? And what do you suppose this is?"

With that, Karlos extended his arm and, as if by magic, Karlos' keyblade materialized into his hand.

"Holy cow! It is real! How in the world did you get it?"

Karlos explained the whole story to Halsten except the part where he and Angie confessed their feelings for each other. He felt he needed to keep the mutual feeling a secret.

"I see… I bet you were given the keyblade for a very big reason. Maybe you're the one who will rid yourself and me of that never-ending nightmare with that fancy weapon."

Karlos nodded his head in agreement. He too thought the keyblade would help him destroy the monster in their nightmares one day.

The three friends talked for what seemed like ages. It was not very often they would find so much common ground. What they mostly discussed was the keyblade karlos obtained and all the good he could do for those in need with it.

Suddenly, the ground shook violently.

"Hey! What's going on?" Karlos shouted as he shook with fear.

Suddenly, it emerged from the water. It was a giant heartless in the shape of an octopus. Its head was dark purple with huge yellow eyes that had no pupils and its eight tentacles were dark blue with scarlet red suction cups underneath.

"Guess it's time to use the keyblade again," Karlos said as he summoned his keyblade. Wasting no time, Karlos called out to Halsten and Angie. "You two run for cover! I'll see what I can do about this monstrosity."

"Okay, man. Be careful," Halsten called as he led Angie into a nearby cave. When they got to the cave, they peeped over the entrance to see what was going on. It looked like Karlos was having quite a bit of trouble. Karlos tried getting close enough to the heartless to destroy it, but the octopus heartless kept repelling him with its tentacles, sending him flying nearly ten feet back.

"Nuts! I can't get close enough. How the heck are you supposed to beat a heartless this size?"

Suddenly, he heard a voice echo inside his head.

_Karlos, with the keyblade in your hand, you can use magic to defeat your heartless as well as hitting them with your keyblade. Use the fireball spell to help you._

_Wait a minute! How am I supposed to use a fireball spell? I've never used magic before in all my life. Maybe I can shout the name of the spell to make it work; it can't hurt to try, right?_

Karlos pointed his keyblade at the heartless and shouted,

"Fireball!"

Instantly, out from the end of the keyblade was a ball of fire. The fireball quickly shot out and smacked the heartless right between the eyes. The heartless fell back a few steps and then quickly regained its balance. Angered, it whipped up a wave making it head towards Karlos.

"Oh no! Fire Shield!"

Instantly, a dome-like shield made with fire protected Karlos from the huge wave until the wave was gone.

"Okay, now to blow this dirt bag out of the water! I hope this spell works. Fire Tornado!"

Instantly, an enormous twist of wind mix with fire appeared within three feet in front of Karlos. Karlos pointed his keyblade at the heartless hoping to command the tornado to inflict damage on the monster. Luckily, it worked. The tornado lifted the heartless high up in the air. A few seconds up there, and the heartless vaporized into nothingness. The tornado slowly faded away, and Karlos jumped up and down, glad that he had defeated a heartless roughly nine times his own size. However, his joy was short lived. Instantly, a black and purple portal appeared right under his feet and right when he fell in, the portal disappeared.

Halsten and Angie ran to where Karlos was standing. Bewilderment consumed them as they tried to comprehend what had just happened to their friend. Angie fell to her knees and cried while Halsten tightened his hands into fists, filled with anger and sadness.

* * *

**Riku: I think this is a good time for a break.**

**Sora: But why? I want to know what happened to Karlos and if he's all right.**

**Riku: I know, but I think we should break for lunch.**

**Kairi: I agree, let's get some seafood.**

**Sora: Seafood? Oh, boy!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Riku: Are you finished yet, Sora?**

**Sora: Yup! That was the best lobster ever!**

**Riku: (Sigh)**

**Kairi: Can we get back to the movie? I really want to know what happened to Karlos.**

**Riku: Sure, Kairi. Roll film!**

* * *

Karlos slowly opened his eyes and sat up. He saw a bunch of neon lights on many buildings with several different colors.

"Where the heck am I? Where's Halsten and Angie?" He asked himself, feeling despair creep in.

He stood up and walked around the town. Everywhere he went, he heard crickets chirping, people talking, and slow jazz music from the bars. Finally, after twenty minutes of wandering around the town, Karlos sat on a nearby bench and began thinking over what had happened.

_Let's see… I was battling a heartless that looked like an octopus… I defeated it and then a portal formed right under my feet and I fell in… I guess that's how I got here. I wonder if the guys back home are okay; it sure isn't safe there if more of the heartless invade._

While Karlos was hanging his head in thought, someone approached him.

"Hey! I've never seen the likes of you around here before. Who are you?"

Karlos quickly lifted his head to see who it was. It was man roughly four inches taller than Karlos was. He had greyish brown hair, combed to the side; a few wrinkles; brown eyes; and a black trench coat complete with black trousers and black shoes.

"Oh, my name is Karlos. What's yours?"

"Daniel. I am a keyblade wielder, and it's my job to protect this town from the heartless."

"Heartless? You mean this town has a heartless problem?"

"The town won't have a problem with them so long as I'm on duty," He replied smiling.

"I see. I'm a keyblade wielder myself. Before I got here, I defeated two nasty heartless, the last one looking like a giant octopus. Here, let me show you."

With that, Karlos extended his arm with the palm of his hand facing upward. Instantly, a ball of light appeared and materialized into his keyblade. Daniel was astonished.

"Well, well, well… It's been so long since I've last met another keyblade wielder. And you say you defeated a giant heartless octopus? Defeating a heartless like that is never easy if you try to fight it alone.

"Dude, I defeated it by myself using fire magic!

Karlos told him all about how a portal magically appeared under his feet after defeating the giant octopus and pulled him in to teleport him to the town.

"Is that so? How strange..."

Anyway, what's the name of this town? It sure is pretty."

"It's Lunaville."

"Lunaville… Why is it called that?"

"Every night the moon appears enormous over the horizon. Tourists come from afar to see its enormous size. Let me show you."

Karlos made his keyblade vanish into the light, saving it for a time when he would truly need it again. Daniel took Karlos by the hand and led him to a lookout tower on the edge of the town. Immediately, Karlos was amazed. He had never seen anything so enormous in all his life. The beautiful bright glow had Karlos stare at it for what seemed like forever.

"This is so amazing!" Karlos finally spoke after a while.

"Indeed," said Daniel, nodding his head in agreement.

After a while, Karlos felt tired. He let out a yawn after his eyes were almost closed.

"Felling tired?"

"Yeah, It's been a long day."

"I don't suppose you have anywhere to crash for the night, do you?"

Karlos shook his head with a sad expression on his face.

"There's a motel across the street. Cheapest place to stay for the night, I reckon. I'll pay for your stay there.

Karlos yawned before answering.

"R-really? You would do that for me?"

"Yes, my friend. Let me escort you there."

Daniel took Karlos by the hand once again and led him to the motel. It did not look fancy by any means, but it did look inviting to Karlos.

Karlos yawned upon seeing the place. He certainly was ready to get some sleep. When they got inside, Daniel paid for Karlos' stay for the night. Before he left, Daniel asked Karlos if he would meet him back at the tower the next morning and Karlos said yes. After Daniel made his exit, Karlos slowly walked to the room he was staying in and instantly fell asleep upon getting into the bed.

_This town is so cool! I wish Halsten and Angie were here to see what I saw._

The next morning, When Karlos woke up, he realized he did not have the nightmare like he did back home.

_Heh… I guess that ends my nightmare streak. Maybe I only get the nightmare when I'm asleep back home._

Suddenly, Karlos felt his stomach rumble.

_Oh, must be time for breakfast. I'll bet Daniel will have something for me to eat._

With that, Daniel quickly washed his clothes, brushed his teeth, showered, and walked out of the motel over to the tower. There he found Daniel waiting for him at the door.

"Good morning, my keyblade wielding friend. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I was out like a light!"

"Good. I bet you're hungry about now, right?"

Karlos nodded his head after his stomach rumble. Daniel smiled when he heard the rumble. He knew of a restaurant that Karlos would love.

"So what's for breakfast?" Karlos asked with enthusiasm.

"You'll find out soon enough."

Daniel motioned for Karlos to follow. He followed him to a 1950's style Diner. When they walked inside, Daniel saw two people he knew.

"Well… fancy seeing you two here!"

In unison, the two said, "Howdy do, Daniel!"

The three friends had a conversation that lasted nearly two minutes. During that time, Karlos was waiting anxiously for breakfast. He wanted to order some food, but realized he had no money of his own.

_Darn it! Why did I leave my wallet back at my room?_

After the three friends had finished talking, Daniel turned to Karlos.

"Karlos, I want you to meet Ingvar and Ragnar. They too are keyblade wielders."

Karlos thought it was amazing that these two young men had Swedish names like some of the people he knew back home. It made him feel a bit more like he belonged than before.

Ingvar had the same height as Karlos. He had straight blonde hair with a beard, crystal blue eyes, a navy blue sweater, dark jeans, and white shoes.

Ragnar was roughly one inch taller than Ingvar. He had light brown hair parted on opposite sides, dark eyes, a short-sleeved shirt with reddish purple and black zig-zag patterns, sand colored shorts, and brown shoes.

Karlos talked with Ingvar and Ragnar for about a minute before his stomach rumbled again.

"Can we get something now, Daniel? I'm starving!"

"Not a problem, Karlos."

They all sat down and ordered. Karlos ordered a stack of pancakes, Ingvar ordered a sausage biscuit and two eggs, Ragnar ordered Bacon and eggs, and Daniel order two sausage biscuits with gravy.

Karlos really enjoyed his stack of pancakes. He thought they were the tastiest kinds of food since his grandmother's cookies, and that was quite a few years before.

After they were finished, Daniel paid for the meals. They decided to hang around the restaurant for nearly an hour to discuss what they wanted. Ingvar and Ragnar talked about the last time they defeated many heartless.

"It was the greatest fight of our lives," Ragnar said. "They were many, but we kept whacking them and dodging their quick attacks. Some of them were quite big too. We had to use teamwork to win that battle and, oh boy, it was epic!

"That it was," Ingvar said in agreement, "We had to use a few spells as well to best those dark monsters, mostly ice spells since they could slow them down significantly."

Daniel chuckled with happiness. He knew Ingvar and Ragnar loved nothing more than working together to defeat heartless. It was what they had been doing ever since they moved to the town seven years before.

Karlos enjoyed the story, but there were times when he thought about home and his friends during their speech.

After they had finished, Daniel spoke up.

"Karlos, how long has it been since you got your keyblade?"

"Since the night before yesterday."

"Okay. I think we should take Karlos to the practice arena. If Karlos is going to fight heartless, he will need some experience beforehand. There are many heartless that are difficult to destroy and Karlos will need to know how to defeat them effectively.

Ingvar and Ragnar became excited, they wanted to see how Karlos would fair in the practice arena. They simply loved watching keyblade wielders battle heartless ruthlessly.

Karlos agreed and they all walked down to the arena.

_Wow! I'm actually going to get some experience with heartless. I'll bet it'll be fun!_

* * *

**Sora: Oh boy! This should be interesting.**

**Riku: I'm sure it will.**

**Kairi: Maybe it will be, but I think we should save that for another time.**

**Riku: You're right, Kairi. My shift starts in an hour and I need to get ready.**

**Sora: Aw man! We have to wait till tomorrow? I was really getting into it. Oh well, I think I can wait.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sora: Oh Yeah! I hope the fight in the arena will be epic!**

**Riku: I wouldn't hold my breath, Sora. He's only going there to practice.**

**Kairi: Still, it would be interesting to see what he'll be capable of.**

**Riku: True, Kairi.**

**Sora: Roll Film!**

**Riku: Hey! I wasn't ready yet!**

* * *

When they got to the arena, Karlos gleamed with excitement. The outside was dome shaped with a darkish aquamarine shade. He thought that he was ready to take on whatever heartless would be pitted against him. He thought that because he defeated two big heartless before, he would surely win against the next one. His thoughts were interrupted when Daniel spoke to him.

"Remember, Karlos. This is a practice arena. If you lose to the heartless, it won't be a problem… We'll just make you keep trying until you beat it or until it's closing time."

Suddenly, Karlos felt a bit uneasy.

"What kind of heartless am I going to fight?" He asked fearfully.

Daniel tried to make him feel better.

"Whatever kind of heartless you fight in there, it will only be a fake. Whether you win or lose, it won't matter because it won't kill you. The attendants there will make sure of that."

Karlos felt a bit more confident after hearing those words.

When they walked through the door, they could see the stage. The stage was lit with fluorescent lights and the floor had white tiles. All of the seats surrounding the stage were empty.

"This is where the fight takes place. You should get prepared, this may be a practice fight, but no doubt it will be tough."

"I'm ready for whatever it is, Daniel. Don't worry."

Daniel smiled.

"That's the spirit. I know you'll do fine."

Karlos hopped onto the stage, ready for a fight. The gate opened and out came a large, green and red heartless that looked like a praying mantis. It was roughly three times Karlos' size.

It moved very quickly making Karlos dodge its attacks most of the time. The heartless kept using its spiky forelegs to stab him, but Karlos kept dodging them.

After some time had passed, Karlos was growing tired of the fight. He really wanted to land a few hits on the heartless but could not due to its speed.

Ingvar and Ragnar kept waiting for Karlos to strike back. They wanted nothing more at the moment than to see Karlos to defeat it.

"He better use ice magic," said Ragnar, "He most likely won't win unless he slows it down with that."

"Or he could use lightning magic," Ingvar said, "That would stun it for only three seconds. However, I think using ice magic would be better since the effects last longer."

Karlos overheard their conversation.

_Do I really have to use magic to take this monster out? I suppose I should try it…_

With that, Karlos shouted a spell.

"Blizzard!"

Quickly, from the tip of his keyblade, a light blue flake shot out and hit the mantis-shaped heartless right before it could jump out of the way. Immediately, it took damage and was only able to go half as fast as it originally could.

"Now's my chance! I'm going to win for sure now!"

Karlos charged at the heartless. It tried to jump away, but Karlos was too quick and jumped he jumped up to make an aerial strike. He pointed the keyblade at the half frozen monster and dove down to slam it to the floor. Karlos jumped back two feet and prepared to strike the heartless again. The effects from the blizzard spell had worn off, but it was too late; Karlos slammed the heartless with the edge of his keyblade and immediately landed a series of blows at the heartless at high speed. It could not take the blows so it fell over and vaporized.

Daniel witnessed Karlos' victory.

"Well done, Karlos! I knew you could do it!"

Ingvar and Ragnar were pleased. They saw exactly what they wanted to see: Karlos defeat a tough heartless.

"No doubt he's got what it takes," Ingvar said, "Who knows? Perhaps one day he will become a better fighter than Gerhold ever was."

"Are you kidding me? Nobody in a thousand years will ever be that good, that's why Gerhold is a legend."

Ingvar was still not convinced.

"You never know, Ragnar. Gerhold may have been great, but I think this guy's got some serious potential. A few more fights and I'm sure he'll be really hard to beat like Gerhold was."

"I guess we'll have to wait and see, then," Ragnar said, unwilling to fight with his friend.

Karlos hopped off the stage, clearly exhausted from the battle. An attendant walked up to him and gave him 7 gold pieces to congratulate him. Daniel approached Karlos smiling.

"Exhausting, wasn't it?"

Karlos nodded.

"Well that was just a practice. I'm sure if you keep this up, no heartless will stand a chance against you. Keep that in mind, would you?"

"Sure I will. Thanks, Daniel!"

Ingvar and Ragnar stepped outside to celebrate. Never before had they seen anyone defeat such a monster. They jumped up and down, and raised their fists in the air.

"He did it! He did it!" They shouted in unison.

Later that day, the four went to Daniel's house for dinner. They all sat around a wooden circular table illuminated by a yellowish glow from a ceiling light and ate pumpkin sausage stew. Karlos really enjoyed the stew. He had two bowls full of it. Ingvar and Ragnar had three bowls of it, and Daniel had just one.

After they had eaten, Ragnar asked Karlos about him and where he was from. Karlos told him and Ingvar where he was from, how he got his keyblade, and how he got teleported to Lunaville.

The two looked at Karlos with suspicion. They were not sure if Karlos was telling the truth about being teleported to the town.

"A portal just appeared right under you? Are you sure you weren't just seeing things?" Ingvar asked.

"Yeah, if that really did happen, how did it happen? Who put the portal under you?"

Karlos was not sure how he would answer the two young men.

"I'm not sure, I guess someone I didn't see just magically made the portal appear under my feet."

"Interesting…" The two said in unison.

Daniel spoke up.

"Perhaps Karlos was sent to this town for a reason. I can't say for sure, though. Maybe we'll know for sure someday."

Karlos nodded his head in agreement. He wanted to know the truth about him coming to Lunaville and also wanted to know if there was a way home. He really wanted to see his friends again. He also wanted to know if there was a reason why he kept having that awful nightmare every night back home. Because he was exhausted, Karlos decided to spend some of his gold pieces to spend the night at the same motel.

Daniel, Ingvar, Ragnar, and Karlos helped clean the dishes and silverware. Afterwards, Karlos left and went back to the motel to spend another night there.

* * *

**Sora: That was cool!**

**Riku: I know. It's been so long since we've fought any heartless. It sure was good to see that kind of fight again.**

**Kairi: Yeah, but I want to see Angie and Halsten again. We haven't seen them yet ever since Karlos got teleported from them.**

**Riku: I'm sure we'll see how they were doing later. **

**Sora: Oh! Can't wait to find out.**


End file.
